Castlevania: Fallen Concerto
by Wight Mamba
Summary: A young man has somehow entered an alternate realm of existence and now must survive the horrors to find away out of the realm of Dracula
1. Chapter 1

Castlevania: Fallen Concerto

(I don't own anything to do with Castlevania that is property of konami)

Ch.1: Today is the first day

(This story has aspects of C: AoS and C: DoS just that it takes place present day)

The year is 2010, a day like any other, I get up early to go to Community College where I spend three hours of my life a Monday through Thursday that I'll never get back. I get out of the car after driving to the college, get out of the car and wave my mother goodbye as I watch her drive away, life was simple and boring. I let out a heavy sigh and turned around

"If only I could just get to Johnson and Wales without going through this that would be sweet" I said as I fixed my back pack and adjusted my fedora

I wasn't paying attention when I bumped into someone

"Sorry I wasn't looking, please excuse…me?" I said as I looked at who I just bumped into and came face to face with myself I backed off a bit

The thing was standing there with an almost trance like stare as it took a step forward, I stood motionless completely dumbfounded not sure what to do. Suddenly a wicked grin shot across its face as it launched itself at me as it grabbed my neck and lift me up into the air. I started gasped for air as the thing continued to choke me.

"Silly mortal, all I have to do is kill you and I can take all your memories then go on and kill everyone and do the same and become unstoppable!" The thing said as it grip tightened

I didn't know what to do I was started to feel dizzy from lack of air and I could barely struggle when out of nowhere a blade stabbed it in the heart. As it released its grip I fell to the ground gasping for air and watched the thing stagger back and fall over then bursts into flames. I then saw a person come and pick up the weapon which turned out to be nothing but a simple dagger.

The person then walked over and asked in a woman's "Are you okay boy?"

"Boy!" I said as I panted.

"Aren't you still in High school?" The woman asked.

"I'm Twenty, I graduated two years ago!" I shouted, angry about the remark.

"You are, you look like your 16!" The woman said surprised.

"Well I'm not, so by the way what the hell just happened and will it happen again?" I asked worried.

"I'm not certain, but what I can say is you're not in Kansas anymore." The woman said looking in my direction, her face hidden by a hood.

"What do you mean anymore, I wasn't I Kansas to begin with?" I asked in reply to the remark.

"Well, the point is that you're no longer in the mortal realm of existence." The woman said in reply.

"Then where am I, everything looks about the same?" I asked looking around.

"You want proof, try picking up your hat, it fell off when you got attacked" The woman said.

As I bent over to pick up my hat my hand past through it what the woman said seemed to be the truth, but I was still convinced this was a dream, although this was not a dream it was a nightmare.

"So this realm of existence you speak of…what is it exactly?" I asked looking around.

"This is the realm of the dark lord…" The woman said before I interrupted her.

"Let me guess, Satan prince of darkness" I said sarcastically.

"No, good guess, actually it's Dracula; well technically he's dead and gone" The woman said.

"Wait you mean like the vampire?" I asked confused slightly.

"Is there any other Dracula?" The woman asked in reply.

"Good point, but what does this have to do with me?" I asked concerned.

"Well maybe nothing, or then again maybe everything" She said as a group of monsters appeared around us.

"Great, not this again!" I shouted as on came at me.

Suddenly in a blinding flash all the creatures vanished, as I opened my eyes I noticed I was still standing, and then I turned to the woman whose hood had come off, she had one hand raised with light emanating from it.

"What in the name of the lord was that?" I asked amazed at the display of power.

"That was Illumination, a power I gained from destroying a creature and capturing it's soul in this" The woman said as she held out a small glowing stone "This stone grants anyone who has it the power to wield the power of a soul of a fallen foe, although they won't always release when they do they can be captured and you can the call upon them at will, as long as you have the energy to do so".

"Where can I get one?" I asked curious about the stone.

"You can find on inside there" The woman said.

"You mean inside my college?" I asked confused again

"That's its outward appearance, I assure you it is much more different on the inside" She said walking towards the door. "This realm is different remember so don't trust your eyes for one thing, another you are stuck here".

"Wait what do you mean stuck here won't I be missed at in the real world?" I asked.

"No time for you in the real world has stopped, if you are able to leave, then you will resume your normal life and all traces of this place will be gone, it will be like waking from a dream" The woman said as she stood at the door way "There is only one way to find out and that is to cross the threshold into the realm of darkness".

"Okay, but could I at least have some sort of way to defend myself?" I asked as I walked towards her.

"Oh of course here you go" She said as she handed me the dagger.

"Wait…Why this little thing?" I asked a bit disappointed.

"Well it was the only thing I had on me at the time, and besides you'll better items in there like this" She said as she unsheathed a ornate blade that look as if it was made out of diamonds.

"Hey, why can't I have that instead?" I asked in shock

"Because it's mine, end of story" The woman said as she put it away

"Unfair, by the way what is your name?" I asked curious

"You can call me Fran, but you should've introduced yourself first, that what a gentleman would've done" Fran said as she put the hood of her white coat up

"My name is Stephen, my last name isn't important" I replied.

"Nice to meet you, anyway I am going to go ahead, I'll hope to see you again just don't die or because you die here you die for real!" Fran said as she ran ahead

"Okay, whatever…" I said as I put the dagger in my pocket

I stood outside the doorway wondering if I was still dreaming, if all this was my mind playing a cruel trick on me, and if this was real why was involved. Why was I chosen to be a target and further more what did woman who calls herself Fran mean by "this may have everything to do with you", well there was only one way to find out and that way to step inside. As I stepped inside what seemed like a school on the outside turned out to be like a labyrinth on the inside.

I sighed and said to myself "I knew school was evil, but this is ridiculous!"


	2. Chapter 2

Castlevania: Fallen Concerto

Ch2: What goes up must come down

**(I know last chapter there may have been some issues with punctuation and grammatical mistakes as well omitted letters and typos, I apologize and will try to do better in the future)**

**(I don't own Castlevania yadda, yadda and all that good stuff)**

I peered into the darkness and for some reason my vision was blurry and I realized that my glasses were the cause, which is odd because I am or rather was nearsighted. When I removed my glasses and let my eyes re-adjust and found out my vision was perfect.

"Wow, this is astonishing, it's been about a decade since I have been able to see clearly without glasses!" I shouted marveling at my new found perfect vision.

I walked a bit into the labyrinth and came across the first door.

"Well here goes nothing…" I said as I took a deep breath and turned the knob to open the door.

The room was small and seemed to have several levels to it but most of it was too high to reach even by jumping, so I paid no mind to them and continued forward. I came across my first enemy: it was a skeleton.

"Okay, so this doesn't like to hard to defeat," I remarked as I came at the skeleton from behind with my dagger in hand and swung down on it knocking it to pieces.

As I looked around the remains of the skeleton I noticed a coin.

"Huh, go figure. I wonder why it dropped some money, guess I never know, but no point in leaving it behind," I said pocketing the small coin.

Further ahead in the same corridor it seemed a bit scarce of any being living or dead so I decided to sit down and gain my composure.

"Jeez skeletons, evil things that steal my face and strangle me, a Hispanic woman who wields a sword as well as magic, Dracula…This is all just too unbelievable, I must be dreaming, but if that's true then how come I am trying so hard, aggghh this just so confusing!" I shouted as I threw a stone at a pile of rocks.

Suddenly the ground started shaking and I probably would be knocked over if I wasn't already sitting. I looked around for the cause and sure enough a giant stone monster rose from the ground with eyes that looks as though they were on fire, and as it spotted me it let out a almost deafening screech. I got up as fast as I could and pulled my dagger out.

"Oh God! What's this measly little thing going to do against that thing, well nothing ventured nothing…oof!" I shouted as I got kicked into a wall, I slowly got up what was amazing about this is for some reason none of my bones were broken and aside from a minor bruise I was okay.

I then ran at the giant who was taking a step back as he was about to put his right leg down I leapt into the air and drove the dagger into the giant's left kneecap. Surprisingly, the dagger was able to penetrate the monster's rock body. As I tried to free the dagger I realized it was stuck into the things knee and I was unable to free it. I was now unarmed against a giant who was angry at me for knocking it over. I looked around for anything even remotely usable as a weapon and noticed something sticking out of the giant's back as it got up and limped towards me.

"Hey ugly, what's the matter you got something in your leg? Well, I'm sorry about that, but hey at least I'm not a loser!" I shouted trying to get the thing to try and fall over which worked until I fell on me.

I struggled to free myself but to no avail and to make matters worse the giant grabbed me and started swing me like a baseball. It was going to throw me and with enough force to punch a hole in three foot thick steel wall, but I noticed it brought me within reach of the object in its back. I waited for it to bring me close to the weapon and I grabbed hold of the weapon. As I did the giant stopped swinging and fell forward and let me go. I firmly gripped the object with both hands and pulled it out and it turned out to be a spear that looked of fine quality. Realizing that now was my chance to strike I ran up to the monster's head.

"Hey, I hope you like Hell because that's where I'm gonna send you and everything else in here that ticks me off!" I shouted as I thrust the spear deep into the giant's rock hard head and continued to push to make sure it died.

Finally the monster screech loudly and its head collapsed in on itself.

"Woo," I said as I staggered back, "I'm beat; I wasn't expecting for something that tough this early on…guess I should stay on my toes from now on."

"So I see you took down the giant that was some pretty good fighting," A familiar voice said from behind me, "And I also see you found yourself a better weapon."

"Fran, you mean you were watching this entire time and didn't help?" I asked somewhat angry.

"Well hello to you too…besides that golem is small time to a person of my caliber," Fran said as she helped me up.

"So, you were seeing if I could handle myself in a fight?" I asked out of curiosity.

"More or less, I would stepped in if you were in any real danger, but then you'd have gotten any stronger," Fran said sitting down on the fallen monster.

"So I'm stronger for fighting that thing?" I asked Fran intrigued.

"Quite, you might have noticed that in this realm you are no longer limited by your normal physical capabilities, like you can get hit by a cannon and have almost no traces of a wound," Fran explained to me.

"So, I'm, like what, invincible?" I asked.

"Oh God no, just because you can't get too hurt doesn't mean you can't die, you are quite mortal," She said as she got up, "The more you get hit the weaker you become, and eventually if you take too much damage you can die."

"Well then what does getting stronger have to do with this?" I asked.

"Think of it like an RPG game where when you fight stuff or complete a quest you gain experience and once you get enough you level up and get stronger, pretty much the same deal except this is in no ways a game," Fran said in a serious tone.

"So if I understand you correctly the more I kill, I become stronger and ergo am able to withstand more damage as well as deal more damage to those I fight?" I asked to see if I was right.

"More or less," Fran said in a sing-songish tone.

"By the way…I haven't found one of those soul stones yet, shouldn't I have found one by now?" I asked Fran.

"You should check the golem's remains," Fran said in reply.

After looking around the fallen golem's body I found an ornately decorated stone have was clear with what looked a sapphire, a ruby, and a topaz set in the stone.

"Is this it?" I asked showing Fran the stone.

"That is it, unfortunately you haven't captured any souls yet, but I'll tell you what the colors represent: first is the red stone, it represents powers such as throwing fireballs like this!" Fran shouted as she threw a fireball at a skeleton that rose from the ground

"Okay what's next?" I asked so she could continue

"Next is the blue stone, it represents abilities that from around you like my illumination ability," Fran said having already demonstrated this ability she continued, "And then there is the yellow stone, this captures soul that enhance yourself such as an increase in my strength, last and not least is the clear stone, souls captured in that are passive abilities meaning there are always active like the ability to breathe while underwater or the ability to double jump."

"Wait…you can double jump?" I asked remembering the platforms.

"Indeed, I can," Fran said as she demonstrated as she jumped and as if something was there jumped again.

"That must come in handy," I said as I watched.

"Indeed it is, anyway that's the basics of the soul stone, anyway I need to get going I got pressing matters to attend to in this place, I will see you again Stephen, good luck," Fran said as she ran off into the next room.

"This just gets weirder and weirder, well anyway I should start capturing souls…too bad she forget to tell me how!" I shouted realizing that she left out that part of the basics.


	3. Chapter 3

Castlevania: Fallen Concerto

Ch3: Hearts of Darkness

**(Will the constructive criticism ever end…no, no it won't)**

I sat in the room on top of the fallen golem and pondered the stone.

"How I'm I going to capture souls with this?" I asked myself as I looked at it.

I got up, put the stone away, and withdrew my new spear from the golem's head and continued into the labyrinth. The next room I came into was large and ornate, the walls seemed to be made from marble and there were elegant stained glass windows that let in light from an unknown source, but perhaps the most noticeable thing about the room was the cacophony of disembodied voices of people talking as if they were attend a party. I couldn't stand the chatter; before long I dropped my spear fell to my knees and covered my ears.

"What's wrong young man; do you not want to be part of the celebration?" A man's voice asked from somewhere ahead, I looked up and noticed a man in a suit holding a glass of wine..

I got up and sure enough as I moved my hand towards my spear the voices were gone but I still didn't like what this man was up to by what he just said.

"By the way I wouldn't reach for your spear; if you want to live, I suggest you hand over the Philosopher's stone in your possession!" he said as he raised his voice and pulled a pistol out of his suit coat.

"Philosopher's stone? what the heck are you talking about?" I asked as I looked up at his face.

The man sighed and replied, "Are you stupid or just playing dumb?"

"Well by the way you put it I am stupid since I really have no idea what you are talking about," I replied still on my knees.

"Fine since seeing as you refuse to comply I will make this simple…you have a jewel-like stone in your possession, do you not?" He asked in a sigh.

"You mean this?" I asked as I pulled the stone out of my pocket.

"Yes, that is it; you must give it to me!" He shouted ecstatically.

"Why, exactly should I give this to you when I don't know who you are?" I asked holding the stone.

"I don't need to answer you, knave! Now I command you hand over the stone or suffer the consequences!" He shouted angrily, pointing the gun at me.

I thought quickly about this, he had me pinned down and was trying to get me to hand over the soulstone but for some purpose that he wasn't going to tell me. Something was up and I wasn't about to let this guy take me alive.

"Okay then, I you want the stone so badly, then…go and get it!" I shouted as I tossed it as far as I could.

The man watched and went after it as I picked my spear up and ran in front of the guy who stopped dead in his tracks.

"Foolish boy, you have no idea who you are messing with!" He shouted.

"Yeah you're right, I don't. But what I do know is that you aren't getting that stone," I said pointing the spear at him.

"You don't have the will to kill me with that spear, you're much too spineless," the man said in a taunting tone.

"Too bad for you that I don't consider you—or me for that matter—a human in this realm," I said as I stabbed him in the side with my spear and he staggered back a bit with blood coming out of his mouth but otherwise I only made him angrier.

"Curse you child! I will destroy you!" He shouted as he fired several rounds, but missed horridly.

"Too bad you're a lousy shot, or I would've found that intimidating," I said making fun of him.

"Humph," He said as he left the room quickly.

"Hey wait I not done with you!" I shouted after him as I followed him but a door closed shut behind him and a seal appeared on it "Oh great, something else I have to figure out!" I shouted as I punched the door.

I then went and retrieved my stone from the ground and looked at it.

"What is it about this thing that made this guy want it so badly?" I asked myself.

As I was pondering the stone, the voices started again. By this time I finally figured out the source and looked around: The room was littered with ghosts of men in suits and women in fancy gowns.

"Holy crap, where am I now?" I asked myself as I gasped at the sheer number of the ghosts.

There were probably several hundred ghosts in this room alone. I came to the realization that this wasn't just a labyrinth, this place was a place where the souls of those who once lived are trapped for all eternity.

I quickly left this room and went into the next, I saw something lurching toward me; it was a zombie in soldier fatigues holding a combat knife. So I took my spear and impaled its head on blade of the spear which killed it. Suddenly a yellow light flew toward me. I quickly tried stabbing it but my spear passed through it and it went into my pocket and vanished. I reached into my pocket and pulled the stone. The yellow stone on the soulstone was glowing. I realized what this meant; it meant I had just captured a soul.

**(For some stupid reason I won't let me use a lowercase K for Kevlar)**

"So that's how it works, I wonder what this soul does exactly?" I said before noticing a bullet proof Kevlar vest of the ground "Hey that might prove useful," I put on the Kevlar vest and left the front unzipped.

The vest was a bit heavy but it would definitely prove useful against that gun totting freak if he decided to show himself again and actually managed to hit me with his gun. As I continued in the room I noticed a knight in armor wielding a sword walking about, so I tried to stab it only to find that it was completely hollow which must've ticked it off because it started swinging its sword at me. It managed to knock the spear out of my hands and it swung its sword luckily my vest stopped the sword from sinking into my skin as I was struck. I rushed back to my spear and tried crushing the armor rather than stabbing it to enough effect that it fell apart. As it fell apart its sword was left on the ground.

"I will put this to good use, but what to do with my spear?" I asked and decided to leave the spear behind.

"Hey, why don't you sell it to me?" Said a female voice.

I looked over and saw nothing.

"Who said that?" I asked.

"I did, over here!" Shouted the voice.

I looked up and noticed a woman who had horns wearing a kimono up in the on a balcony.

"A demon; why would you be interested in helping me?" I asked confused.

"Well, I may be a demon but I'm not really interested in killing people, rather I supply the means for people to be killed or otherwise, really I just sell and buy stuff, the name's Margo," Said the demon as she jumped from the balcony

"So you're a merchant or something like that?" I asked perplexed by the idea.

"Yep, if you got something you can't carry or need some supplies come and find me because I will buy and sell stuff," Margo said as she picked up the spear "But this doesn't count because you chose to leave it behind,"

"Hey, that's not fair!" I shouted.

"Look I could sit here and argue with you about this, but I should go set up shop, by the way what's your name?" Margo asked me.

"My name is Stephen," I replied.

"Oh so you're Stephen, I have a message for you from a woman named Fran, who told me to give you it if I met you, so here," Margo said as she handed the letter over.

_Dear Stephen_

_If you are reading this, then I have something important you must know, you and me are not the only people here, there are "others" who are probably trying to find us as we speak, these people are dangerous and should be avoided if possible._

_Best Wishes_

_Fran_

"That'll be 50$" Margo said, holding out her hand.

"What, I don't have that kind of money!" I shouted.

"You should, you have found coins off the creature here, haven't you?" Margo asked me.

"Oh right…is this enough?" I asked hold the coins.

"A fifty piece, yeah that's enough. Well anyway, I should get going. Be seeing you around," Margo said as she left the room.

"What a very odd demon." I said to myself.


	4. Chapter 4

Castlevania: Fallen Concerto

Ch.4

**(So far my chapters have been criticized, as long as it's not flat out flame crap its okay)**

I walked around a bit in the current section of the labyrinth which was much like a garden; although there was no sunlight and very little light to begin with, yet grass as well as several types vines were growing. As I continued to walk I noticed a strange plant that had wiggling tendrils so I approached it but as I did it leapt out of the ground and looked like a little yellow beast. For some reason I knew to cover my ears to keep from dying. As I did the creature let out a monstrous scream and then fell apart.

"Great, mandragoras. If I am not careful then I'll die," I said relieved.

Drawing my sword I moved slowly towards the next plant and drove my sword into it but it wasn't mandragora it was just a seemingly normal plant but it seemed to be bleeding from the area from where I stabbed it. Then a red beam of light came out of the plant and flew into the stone but for some reason the stone became really hot as if it was left in a fire and I dropped it when I did it exploded and the shockwave sent me into there the air.

"What just happened?" I asked, completely confused.

"It seems your silly philosopher's stone was defective or you were not compatible," Said a African accented voice from behind me.

"Who are you and what are you talking about?" I asked getting up slowly from the explosion.

"Like a said, your stone was either a bad stone or you're not the right person," The African man said.

"So are you here to kill me too?" I asked with my sword in hand.

"Well not anymore, since you don't have anything I want you are nothing to concern myself with," The man said calmly.

"Nothing to concern yourself with, I'll show you!" I shouted as I ran at the guy but my sword shattered as it hit him.

"Like I said; you're nothing, now settle down before I am forced to hurt you," the man said as he turned his back and walked off.

I sat there powerless and defeated with no weapon and no abilities as if all my chances of ever making anywhere seemed to shatter just as my sword did.

"What went wrong?" I asked myself.

I found a little spot and sat down distraught and forlorn when I heard walking and looked up and saw it was Fran with her elegant blade drawn and covered in the blood from various creatures that lurk around.

"So what's with the depressed look?" Fran asked as she walked up.

"Well aside from the fact the philosopher's stone exploded and the weapon I had shattered against someone's body, I seem to have lost any chance of survival," I said as I pointed at the broken objects on the ground.

"So, you're not one of us then, that poses a problem," Fran said as she wiped the blood from her sword.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Nothing. Just never mind it," Fran said as she put her sword away.

"No, you are hiding something from me, something important," I said as I got up.

"You don't need to know, it doesn't concern you," She said turning away from me.

"I have been threatened by some wine drinking freak and was until recently hunted by some steel skinned African man, so if you're not telling me something I suggest you do," I said forcefully.

"Or what? You're in no position to demand anything," Fran said as she stood up.

I sat down and then looked down "Please just tell me," I said as I looked down.

"Fine, but this'll just make matters worse. I am known as a dark one, and those others are also dark ones; we are…evil incarnate, though some of us are not exactly evil…like me for example," Fran said as she looked away from me.

"You're not human?" I asked.

"Well yes and no, I am human but my abilities are that of the inhuman. All dark ones have the innate ability to use a proper philosopher's stone without a backlash like you experienced, there are very few of us and even less who are merciful. The two you met so far were Roberto and Balthazar," Fran said taking her sword belt off from her shoulder and placed it beside her and the revealed a mark on her neck that looked like a vampire bite.

"What on earth, you're a vampire?" I asked in disbelief.

"Well, not exactly. I just have the powers of a vampire, due to the fact that one of my past lives was a vampire, but I am not, I just received the abilities to be labeled as a dark one," Fran said hiding the mark again.

"This just doesn't add up, why am I a target?" I asked Fran

"That I can't say for sure, but one thing I know is that Balthazar probably won't be a problem, he's not exactly the worst of the dark ones, Roberto, on the other hand, has no idea that you don't have any abilities and he is not exactly the most reasonable man so he will try to come after you again," Fran said stretching.

"How many of you dark ones are here exactly?" I asked curious.

"Well aside from me and the other two you know of, there are five to my recollection and some of them would annihilate you in an instant, one of them will annihilate you with Tetris blocks," She said.

"WHAT THE HELL, are you serious?" I asked in total disbelief of a person who wield Tetris block as weapons.

"Well, he likes making using his power to make Tetris blocks out of any stone object he wishes and that's only if he is toying with you," Fran said rubbing the back of her neck.

"Well that's great; I'm going to be killed by what I assume is a Russian maniac!" I shouted.

"Well in your current state, but there may be a way you can gain…unique powers," Fran said .

"Unique powers?" I asked.

"Well there is a place here where you may be able to receive some sort of powers although I can't guarantee it's safe or that'll you'll gain any desirable abilities from it," Fran said.

"If it will give me the power to keep me alive so I can get out of this place, I will do it," I said with resolve.

"Fine. I hope you know what you're risking, I will take you," Fran said in a low tone.


	5. Chapter 5

Castlevania: Fallen Concerto

Ch.5: Power Overwhelming

**I know my chapters seemed rushed my reason behind this is each individual room would have to be written out and that would be anticlimactic and boring.**

Fran led me into a deep part of the labyrinth to the area I had not been able to get to because it was too high to jump to normally.

"How do I get up there?" I asked looking up.

"I'll give you a boost," Fran said as she held out both her hands to use as a step.

She gave me a boost to the first part. Luckily, I am pretty good at chin ups. Anyway, I was able to vault myself up without much trouble. Fran then quickly jumped up to help me up the next platform. This time I almost missed and was hanging from with one hand barely gripping it.

"Hold on I be there in a second!" Fran shouted as she jumped the platform and grabbed my hand as it slipped and she helped me up.

"Thanks that was a close one," I said relieved.

"Jeez you're getting to be a handful," she said sarcastically.

"Better that then completely hopeless," I said in response.

"Well, just one more platform," Fran said as we both looked up, "You ready?"

"Yeah, sooner we do this the better," I said as I got ready.

This time I made it up to the platform without a problem. Fran soon followed me up.

"So…how far until we are there?" I asked.

"Not too far. Just stay close to me, I'll handle the fighting until we get there even though there shouldn't be too much," Fran said as she drew her sword.

"I still wish I got that instead of the knife," I said.

"And I told you already it's mine, end of story," Fran said as we walked onward.

We made our way to a library. In the library was a man in a trench coat looking through different papers and documents.

"Who is this guy, Fran?" I asked looking at the guy.

"A friend. If anyone knows more about giving stuff powers it's him" Fran said smiling.

"How come I don't like the sound of that?" I asked rhetorically.

The man seemed too absorbed in his work to notice what was going on. Like a hamster on caffeine this guy was just going from place to place, pouring through books, climbing a ladder.

"Hey Theodore!" Fran shouted.

The man, however, was muttering something and seemed to be completely ignoring her.

"Let me try something," I then grabbed the guy and throttled him.

"You didn't need to do that!" He shouted.

"You we're ignoring us!" I shouted back.

"Well, I was busy going over my research into the inner works of this realm," Theodore said.

"Hey Theodore, I got a favor to ask," Fran said to him.

"Oh, hello Fran any new information of 'their' movements or otherwise?" He asked still jittery.

"Wow. Completely ignoring what I just said, I find that really helpful," Fran said angrily.

"Whatever, sorry. What did you want to ask me?" Theodore asked somewhat relaxed.

"Well, do you know how to give a human power and no not an animal, a human?" Fran asked.

"Well, that depends. Who is the human in question?" Theodore asked cleaning his glasses.

"Yo," I said raising my hand.

"What? You have no powers?" Theodore asked.

"Is that weird?" I asked.

"Well, so far the only people I have known of here are the dark ones like me and Fran, a person without powers would be almost unheard of. In fact I find it astonishing that you're not dead," Theodore said.

"Well, I did have a philosopher's stone, but it exploded," I said.

"Well, that could explain it. Although, using one was foolish of you," Theodore said.

"That was kinda my fault, I didn't tell him about backlashes," Fran said.

"Oh, that explains some of it," Theodore said.

"Well, am I able to get powers or not?" I asked.

"Well, yes, but I can't guarantee the results would be satisfactory or even safe," Theodore said.

"What you mean I can't choose a power?" I asked confused.

"Well, no, the power you get through this process is random," Theodore said.

"Well, that makes this sound annoying," I said sitting down.

"Well, we can try, but I'm not sure what the outcome would produce," Theodore said.

"Okay, I'll try. Better than being bored here for all eternity," I said.

"Then come with me," Theodore said.

I followed Theodore into the library and he looked through a bookshelf and after finding a certain book pulled it down. After he did that, one of the bookcases lowered into the ground revealing a doorway. I followed him into the doorway and then entered a room with a strange symbol on the ground.

"What's that?" I asked looking at it.

"A medium, that's how you'll get your powers…or how you'll get completely eradicated," Theodore said.

"Wait, did you say eradicated?" I asked in a startled tone.

"Well, the ritual can backlash, and when if it does everything caught in it get annihilated, utterly and completely," Theodore said.

"What are the chances?" I asked.

"Twenty percent…that you'll live," Theodore said, holding his chin.

"That's…not very good" I said in a low tone.

"Well, either way you have a chance of dying, since you're not one of us you are slowly dying in this realm," Theodore said leaning against the wall.

"So it's try this and die, or not and die?" I asked Theodore.

"True, just the latter takes longer," Theodore replied.

"Well, no one lives forever, let's do this," I said ,walking into the middle of the room.

"Okay, now just remember that this has a high chance of failing," Theodore said, starting.

He started saying something totally incomprehensible and alien; it was almost unbearable to listen to. As he continued a fire came to light, then another, and then another one. The fires started making their way around the circle to a point where they intersected. Suddenly, I was engulfed by the flames. I felt as though my body was trying to tear itself apart from the outside. Then it was over, I fell forward and couldn't move.

"It succeeded, but to what effect?" Theodore asked rhetorically.

"Hey, could I get some help?" I asked on the ground.

"Of course, after all you haven't eaten in three days," Theodore said.

"What? That couldn't have been more than five minutes!" I shouted.

"It was three days," Theodore said as he helped me up.


End file.
